USS Coronado Completes Final Contract Trials

USS Coronado (LCS 4) successfully completed final contract trials (FCT) June 6.

The trial, administered by the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey, is part of a series of post-delivery test and trial events through which the ship and its major systems are exercised.

The four-day FCT began with pre-underway and material condition checks, followed by at-sea demonstrations. Trial highlights included combat systems air and surface detect-to-engage scenarios, 57mm gun firing exercises, main propulsion full power and maneuvering testing and launch and recovery of the 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boat.

"It was a pleasure to witness Cmdr. Johnston and his crew put Coronado through her paces. I was equally pleased with the performance of the ship systems during this, the first final contract trial of the LCS Independence variant," said Capt. Tom Anderson, LCS program manager for the Navy's Program Executive Office Littoral Combat Ships (PEO LCS). "It is clear that the changes incorporated into Coronado, based on lessons learned from the construction and operation of USS Independence, have contributed not only to her affordability, but to her operational capability."

LCS 4 will undergo a Post Shakedown Availability this fall. In 2015, the ship will execute an Initial Operation Test and Evaluation with a surface warfare mission package embarked and then forward deploy.

LCS is a high-speed, agile, shallow draft, mission-focused surface combatant designed for operations in the littoral environment, yet fully capable of open ocean operations. LCS is complementary to the surface fleet, with the ability to counter and outpace evolving threats independently or within a network of surface combatants.

PEO LCS provides a single program executive responsible for acquiring and maintaining the littoral mission capabilities of the class from end to end, beginning with procurement and ending with fleet employment and sustainment.

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